Trio: The First Year
by penvssword
Summary: Jen Hawkins and her friends Seamus and Ryan have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is their story. Reviews are welcome, but please be nice.
1. Quality Family Time

Pictures lined the mantelpiece- a small, brunette baby, crawling about and tormenting the cat; the boy, older now, arguing with an auburn-haired child that seemed to delight in pulling his hair; the brother and sister with two more siblings, all amusing themselves in one form or another as their mother's form appeared and reappeared in the picture, making futile attempts to calm them. Slightly left of the pictures, three brooms of varying size and condition rested in a corner. They shook and fell as the bearer of the fourth broom rushed inside and slammed the door.  
  
"Bloody lightning," muttered the auburn-haired girl from the pictures. She was now a feisty eleven-year-old, her hair in a wet ponytail so it stayed out of her currently flushed freckled face. Pale green eyes flickered with anger behind a few flyway strands.  
  
"Jennifer Rinnea Hawkins!" her mother exclaimed as she poked her head in from the kitchen. An ex-attorney, Jen's mother was brilliant, exacting, and took no guff from anyone, particularly not her children. "Let me never hear that word come out of your mouth again!"  
  
"But Mum! Me'n Sam and Charlie had a great game going, and the bloody lightning ruined it."  
  
"Go to your room, young lady," her mum said, the tone of her voice brooking no argument.  
  
"I don't see a lady round here, do you?" retorted Jen, temper flaring.  
  
"Jennifer-"  
  
"Fine, fine, I'm going," she said, tossing her broomstick in the corner before trudging up the stairs to the room she shared with her older brother. Their small house was in good condition, but it was nowhere near big enough for six human inhabitants, let alone the bevy of animals the kids brought in.  
  
"Having fun with Mum, eh?" asked Patrick, not taking his eyes off his copy of Home Life and Social Habits of British Muggles. His brown hair flopped into his eyes, and he brushed it away with an irritated gesture.  
  
"If you're so brilliant, why aren't you smart enough to see you need a haircut?" she asked as she watched him. Patrick was going into his fourth year at Hogwarts, the famous wizarding academy, and he was always quick to remind his sister that he had made it into Ravenclaw, the house that most prized wisdom and brains, and was a brilliant student.  
  
"Oh shove it, Jen," he said, flipping a page. Smirking slightly, he added, "You haven't gotten your letter yet, have you?"  
  
"Post hasn't come yet," she replied, peeling off her wet sweatshirt and chucking it at him.  
  
"Guess their selection process really does weed out the stupid ones," he said, picking up the sweatshirt and throwing it in the laundry at the foot of their bunk bed.  
  
"You still got in, didn't you?" she retorted. Patrick didn't have many things to hold over her head, but the few he had- like her current lack of a letter from Hogwarts- he used regularly. Jen fervently hoped he soon wouldn't have that one to use.  
  
----  
  
The next day was still stormy, but a large tawny owl still managed to come through the wind and rain to peck at the windowpane.  
  
Jen ran to the window and unlatched it swiftly. She nodded at the owl's soft hoot of thanks and ripped open the envelope it dropped in her hands as it took off for its remaining stops.  
  
"Is it for me?" asked Dan, her youngest brother, as he poked his head under her arm to see it. "Nah, you stupid little git, it's for me," replied her brother Chris smugly. He was all of one year older than Dan, and twice as obnoxious.  
  
"Shut up, you blokes, it's my letter from Hogwarts!" Jen said, her voice rising in volume until she was practically yelling. "MUM! PATRICK! I got my letter! I've been accepted to Hogwarts!"  
  
"Oh Jenny, that's wonderful!" cried her mother as she came in from the living room. She gave Jen a huge hug, and when she let go, Jen saw she was beaming. "Well, let's see that list... oh, lovely! These are all books your brother has," she said as Jen stiffened.  
  
I always get Patrick's leftovers. His books, his toys, even his clothes... I'm stuck in his stupid shadow, she thought miserably. She knew in her heart that they couldn't afford lots of new books or clothes, and his weren't in bad condition, but it still hurt.  
  
"Well, I guess you got lucky, kid," said Patrick, giving her a bear hug. Chris and Dan tackled the two of them, and the siblings teetered, nearly losing their balance. Stepping back, Patrick remarked, "So you'll be in Ravenclaw, right? Best house around."  
  
"I dunno," said Jen, a cocky grin on her face, "I've always rather liked Slytherin."  
  
Patrick laughed and stuck his tongue out at her.  
  
"Well," cut in her mother, "I suppose we'll have to stop by Diagon Alley and get you a wand and the rest of this loot."  
  
The siblings all cheered.  
  
---  
  
As they wandered down Diagon Alley, Jen was nearly trembling with excitement. She skipped into the Ollivander's, and grinned widely when the man himself came up to her.  
  
"Ah, Ms. Hawkins. I've been looking forward to seeing you," Mr. Ollivander said in his whispery voice.  
  
A ruler began taking her measurements. As she watched it, Jen asked, "Didn't you have a tape measure to do this before?"  
  
"I did until a boy blew it up last year," he remarked, wincing slightly at the memory. "Had a horrible time finding the right wand for him. Here," he said, handing her a wand. "Oak and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches. Springy."  
  
Jen gave it a wave and a loud bang rang out, making everyone duck. Mr. Ollivander grabbed his hat from the floor as he stood, and Jen giggled as she saw the hole blown through it.  
  
"Sorry," she said as he snatched the wand back.  
  
"No you're not," he said, but it was a comment, not a reprimand. "Holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches. Nice and supple," he said, handing her another wand. Everyone ducked as Jen raised it and gave it a wave, but there was no noise this time. Mr. Ollivander took the wand away as quickly as possible, as if to prevent her doing more damage, and as Jen followed his gaze, she saw why. Her family was slowly being lowered to the floor by her father and brother after she had shot them up near the ceiling.  
  
"Nice going, Jen," taunted Patrick, but Jen grinned.  
  
"I know," she replied, unperturbed.  
  
"Maple and dragon heartstring, ten inches, pliable," muttered Mr. Ollivander, handing her yet another wand. Jen's fingers warmed as she gripped it, and four deafening booms rang out as she swept it downward.  
  
"Bravo!" cried Mr. Ollivander, looking rather amused.  
  
"You mean that wasn't a mistake?" cried Patrick, rubbing his ears.  
  
"Did I hurt Pattycake's ears?" Jen taunted evilly. "Oh, dearie me."  
  
Her father laughed and took out a few galleons to pay for the wand. Jen winced at the price, but grinned as the box was once again in her hands. As they headed out, she couldn't help but stare at the Nimbus 3 in the window of Quality Quidditch Supplies. She'd heard they were even better than the Firebolt Twos, and far better than the Nimbus 2500, but she could never afford one. Her old, secondhand Cleansweep 8 wasn't that bad, anyway, and she couldn't even take that to school. Patrick could, though, and did every year despite Jen's anger at having her broom stolen. He said even that was better than the school brooms. So I'll just need to work on my lock- picking. And maybe look up a few spells, she thought, her grin growing wider as she followed her parents to finish getting her supplies.  
  
----  
  
Even with just Jen and Patrick packing, the household was in chaos. Clothes disappeared, reappeared, and disappeared once more in a matter of minutes. Their room was a mess of books, supplies, furniture and spare change, with Jen and Patrick thrown in between. Jen, who was nearly through packing, having discovered an innate talent for finding what she needed in the clutter, turned her attention to her brother's things.  
  
"Mum, do you know where my knickers are?" an exasperated Patrick bellowed down the stairs.  
  
"I should hope you're at least wearing a pair," commented Jen mischievously, dodging a pillow he tossed at her. She finished stuffing her Appleby Arrows jersey into her trunk and grinned at Patrick, who looked at her in disbelief.  
  
As she set her trunk down in front of the door, she heard a sound like music to her ears, and fought to keep a straight face.  
  
"Bloody hell!" screamed Patrick. "My knickers are dancing a jig!" 


	2. Not Slytherin

The next morning came early, but for once, Jen didn't care. She was simply too excited as she, Patrick, Dan, Chris and her mum stuffed themselves in their old sedan and headed off to King's Cross. They had to stop several times at assorted distances down the driveway, as Patrick ran off to get his quills and a toothbrush, Jen her supply of Filibuster's Fireworks, and finally their Mum stopped to get some asprin for the headache they were giving her.  
  
Unlike their father, their Mum and her whole family were muggles, something that made any visits from Mum's relatives quite awkward. However, it did mean that Mum knew quite well how to drive a muggle auto, and all the family had an easy time using muggle currency and artifacts, and could blend in at least relatively well.  
  
However, it did not fix the fact that having five people, two of whom were excessively squirmy eight- and nine-year-old boys and two others of whom carried immense trunks, in a small car was immensely uncomfortable. Tempers were running high, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they got to the station.  
  
"C'mon, pull!" cried Jen as she and Patrick struggled to get their trunks out. The things had gotten wedged into the boot, and were turning out to be harder to extricate than they'd been to put in.  
  
With a resounding thwap, the trunks finally gave way, sending their owners careening backwards and landing atop them. Jen's knocked the wind out of her, leaving her gasping for a second as she struggled to push it off her stomach. Recovering quickly, she elbowed Chris, who'd been laughing at her predicament, feeling assured that Patrick was dealing with Dan similarly.  
  
When their mum finally broke in and split up the fights, distributing chastising words where she felt necessary, they lugged the trunks up the steps, grabbed an empty trolley, and made their way to the barrier.  
  
"Now you be good," their mother told them, "or God help me, I'll do things that would get me in trouble with my old friends at the District Attorney's office. I do not want to hear of one- you hear me, one- fight breaking out between you two or I will end it. And don't let me hear any stories of dancing knickers, either," she continued, looking pointedly at Jen. "Now have fun!" she said, taking both of them in big hugs and giving them each a kiss.  
  
"I swear," said Patrick as they went through the barrier, "that Mum has a split personality."  
  
"Attorney by day, mum by night," said Jen, grinning, as they rolled their trunks toward the train. Patrick headed off with a wave to go find his friends, while Jen headed down the train, looking for a compartment with people her own age. Finally she found one, where a brown-haired boy with a hint of a tan sat chatting with a boy with sandy locks.  
  
"Can I sit here?" she asked. The two of them looked at each other and nodded.  
  
The blond boy, who was slightly huskier, saw her struggle with the trunk and asked, "You want help with that?"  
  
Jen nodded, and the boys grabbed the other side of the trunk and heaved. Together, the three of them made quick work of getting it into the compartment.  
  
"Jen Hawkins," she said, thumping down into a seat next to the brown-haired boy.  
  
"Seamus O'Hannigan," he said with an Irish accent. He was a gangly kid, tall and blue-eyed, with a look of mischief about him. Jen liked him immediately.  
  
"Ryan Foster," replied the other. He was brawnier than the other, and his blond locks were cut short. Gray eyes sparkled with humor and intelligence, and Jen decided she'd gotten lucky when she found this car. "I still say Seeker is the most important position," he said to Seamus, continuing their earlier conversation.  
  
"Most important, maybe, but you shouldn't forget the other positions. A team can have the best Seeker in the world and still lose," Seamus replied, gesturing widely as he spoke.  
  
"Like that World Cup with Bulgaria and Ireland," Jen cut in. "Krum got the Snitch, but Bulgaria still lost."  
  
Both of the boys stared at her, expressions of surprise and delight on their faces. Jen grinned- she knew it was uncommon to find a girl with her love of Quidditch. "I mean, truly you need at least decent players in all the positions. A bad Keeper forces the Chasers to score more and the Seeker to make it a quick game, and bad Chasers mean you've gotta get the Snitch. I suppose bad Beaters would be easiest to deal with, but then you have your team being battered by Bludgers."  
  
Their argument continued through the train ride until a woman came by with her cart of sweets. Jen looked longingly at the stacks of Chocolate Frogs and Licorice Wands, but turned her head away- she was nearly broke already, and the rest of her pocket money was stored deep in her trunk for use later. Taking a bruised apple out of her lunch bag, she munched on it as Ryan and Seamus ran to the woman. Ryan came back with two Chocolate Frogs and a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, while Seamus sauntered in with some Fizzing Whizbees, a Pumpkin Pasty and a few Licorice Wands.  
  
"Want one?" Seamus asked, mouth full of pasty. Jen shook her head and took another bite out of her apple, trying to ignore the scent of pasty as it permeated her nose. She couldn't accept charity, particularly not candy they'd bought for themselves.  
  
Seeing the twitch of longing on Jen's face, Ryan tossed a Chocolate Frog into her lap. "Have a bite or two, Hawk," he suggested. She was surprised and amused at her new name, and grateful as he continued, "Who knows? Maybe you'll like it. But if the card's Circe, I get it."  
  
Jen grinned and took a bite, drawing the card out with slim fingers. "Ooh!" she cried, pleased. The card was Agrippa, and it was one of the few her brother was still missing. "I can get at least a Sickle for this one," she said, explaining when they looked at her.  
  
They talked for a long while, until a prefect came by to tell them they had to change. Jen headed off to the bathroom for a little privacy, and came back in when they opened the door.  
  
"What house d'ya want?" she asked, thinking of her own aspirations.  
  
"Gryffindor for me, mate," said Seamus. "Whole family's gone there. Well, except for me cousin Mallachey, but we don't talk about him. He was a Slytherin."  
  
Jen and Ryan both winced at the thought, and Ryan said thoughtfully, "My older sisters are Hufflepuffs, and I 'spose that'd be okay, but I'd prefer Ravenclaw, myself."  
  
"Brother's a Ravenclaw," said Jen. "That or Gryffindor seems good to me."  
  
"Just not Slytherin," muttered Seamus darkly.  
  
"I dunno," said Jen, thinking, "sometimes it seems it's be worth it just to hear my parents."  
  
That got a laugh from the others, though they were all nervous; Sorting was possibly the one thing that would most define their years at Hogwarts.  
  
"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately," said a clear voice that echoed through the train.  
  
Jen could feel her skin paling beneath her freckled tan, and she saw Seamus' doing the same. Ryan wiped his hands on his robes, and wet spots showed on the robes where the sweaty palms had touched. As they train began to slow, they discussed the various rumors they'd heard about Sorting.  
  
"My sisters said it was an interview by a panel of judges, but I'll bet that's a load of bullocks," confided Ryan.  
  
"Mum just laughed and said I'd do fine when I asked her," said Seamus, looking even more nervous with each passing moment.  
  
"How comforting," muttered Jen. "Patrick said it was a huge contest, where you had to duel all the other first years, but then again, Patrick's the biggest liar I've ever known." 


	3. Braver Than the Rest

"Firs' years!" called a voice. The three companions looked up to see a huge man, his wild black hair and beard giving him a fearsome appearance.  
  
"Who's that?" asked Seamus. The oldest of his family, he didn't have anyone to fill him in on the many characters in Hogwarts.  
  
"It's Hagrid," said Ryan, grinning. "He's the gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher."  
  
"He's nowhere near as savage as he looks," said Jen. "My brother really likes him."  
  
"Half-giant, too," continued Ryan.  
  
"Nah. He's just big-boned, you know," said Jen, sticking her tongue out at the other two and earning chuckles.  
  
Hagrid led them along a narrow path to a small fleet of boats on the edge of an immense lake. The trio piled into one small craft as he yelled out instructions. As Hagrid yelled, "FORWARD!" the fleet took off at once. First years stared silently up at the castle on the far bank with a mixture of awe, excitement, and dread. They ducked under the face of the cliff the castle sat on and traveled down a long tunnel before coming to a pebbled underground harbor. The silence was unbroken until Hagrid raised a large fist and knocked on the castle door, which swung open immediately.  
  
Behind the huge oak doors stood a stern-faced witch, to whom Hagrid bowed slightly and said, "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall."  
  
"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here," McGonagall replied in clipped, precise words as she pulled door fully open.  
  
Jen heard gasps as people saw the immense entrance hall for the first time. There was a hum of voices as the older students inside a room to the right talked amongst themselves, but McGonagall showed the first years to a small room off to the left.  
  
In the same terse voice, she informed them that they were about to be Sorted, and gave a short speech describing the house system and each of the four houses. Then she left, telling them she'd be back when preparations were finished.  
  
"Form a line," she said, reentering after several minutes in which all the first years appeared to have become doubly nervous, "and follow me."  
  
She led them into the Great Hall, an immense room with four long tables where the rest of the student body sat. The room was lit by thousands of candles, whose light glittered off the golden place-settings on the tables. Holding out a hand in a silent order for them to stop, McGonagall took a stool and put it on the floor in front of the first years before carefully placing a raggedy, dirty old hat atop it. The older students silenced their whispering, and then the hat began to sing.  
  
Four houses Hogwarts has,  
For each a different prize,  
As Sorting Hat, it is my job  
Your placement to surmise.  
Will it be in Hufflepuff,  
Where kind and thoughtful dwell?  
Hufflepuffs are true of heart and word  
And treat all others well.  
Or perhaps in Ravenclaw,  
With the wise and keen of mind.  
You may search the world o'er;  
But no smarter house you'll find.  
Gryffindor may be the place for you,  
If you're braver than the rest.  
At chivalry, nerve, and daring,  
Gryffindors are best.  
Slytherin might fit your needs,  
If you seek a rise to power.  
Slytherins use any means  
To escape their final hour.  
So fear not, little first years.  
You need perform no feat of daring-do.  
Just put me on and I'll see  
Which house you belong to!"  
  
The applause was deafening, and the hat hopped around to bow to eat table before going limp again.  
  
"So it's just the hat, then," said Ryan quietly. "Not bad after all."  
  
"I don't feel kind, or smart, or brave, or cunning right now," stammered Jen, though she did feel better now that she was positively assured Patrick had been lying.  
  
"You'll do fine," said Seamus, though he didn't look good himself. "Your brother got in, didn't he? And I'll bet you're worth twice of him."  
  
McGonagall then came forward with a roll of parchment and began calling the names to be sorted.  
  
"Aaneson, Erica!"  
  
A small, brown-haired girl sat down on the stool. The hat barely touched her head before crying, "RAVENCLAW!"  
  
The table second from the left cheered, and Jen saw her brother shake hands with Erica as she sat down. Names flew by at an immense speed after that, and it felt like time had barely passed when McGonagall yelled, "Foster, Ryan!"  
  
"Good luck, Ryan," whispered Jen and Seamus, clapping him on the back and shoving him forward. The hat deliberated a while, as it did ever so often, before roaring, "GRYFFINDOR!" Ryan shrugged and grinned back at Seamus and Jen as the table on the left exploded with cheers. Among other things, Gryffindor seemed to be the loudest of the houses.  
  
There were only a few people left before it would be Jen's turn. "Gatsby, Aaron," and "Ganner, Lucy," became Hufflepuffs; "Gillian, Michael," a Slytherin; a pair of twin boys, "Harcourt, Ben," and "Harcourt, Robert," a Gryffindor and a Ravenclaw. Then it was Jen's turn.  
  
"Hawkins, Jennifer!" called McGonagall, and Jen walked swiftly up to the stool, shoving the hat over her head and letting it fall over her eyes.  
  
"Not like your brother, are you?" said a voice inside her ear. "The same intellect, but quite a different personality... there's bravery, and there a kind heart, however well hidden it may be. A tendency to avoid the rules and a sense of justice many would envy. You are no Hufflepuff, nor are you a Slytherin. But Ravenclaw or Gryffindor?" the Hat asked rhetorically, its voice contemplative.  
  
At this point, thought Jen, I don't really care as long as I can go get my supper.  
  
"Ahh," said the Hat. "You've got a lot of moxie, to say such things when you know not the extent of my power. Well, then, I guess it should be GRYFFINDOR!" it finished, yelling only the last word to the hall. Jen yanked off the hat and sauntered over to sit next to Ryan as the Gryffindor table exploded once more in cheers.  
  
She and Ryan waited impatiently for Seamus' name to be called. By the time McGonagall finally yelled, "O'Hannigan, Seamus!" Seamus himself looked like one of the bevy of ghosts gliding around the hall. Jen crossed all her fingers under the table as Seamus put the Hat on, and was rewarded a few seconds later when it roared, "GRYFFINDOR!" She and Ryan joined in cheering Seamus as he walked over, looking like a Herculean weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Soon Jen was sitting between them as the feast finally began. 


	4. First Day

The prefect that led them to the Gryffindor common room didn't seem to be able to stop talking, but Jen didn't care. She chatted gleefully with Seamus, who beamed with happiness, and Ryan, who seemed to be taking his placement pretty well. When they finally came to their destination, a portrait of a large woman in a pink dress, the prefect stopped and announced, "The password is 'ashwinder eggs.'"  
  
As she said this, the picture swung sideways to reveal a cozy-looking round room full of red and gold armchairs. Jen wished her friends goodnight as she and the girls were led up a staircase on the opposite side of the room from where the boys were headed.  
  
----  
  
After a large breakfast of waffles, fruit, and warm cocoa in the Great Hall, Jen, Seamus and Ryan headed for Charms, their first class of the day. Though a prefect had told them where the class was, he'd neglected to mention the trick door and moody staircase on the way there, and they were quite late. Earlier than about half the class, who apparently got stuck on the stair during one of its nastier phases, but late nonetheless.  
  
Professor Flitwick, the tiny Charms teacher, was not pleased, but he didn't seem surprised either. When at least the majority of the class was present, he called roll and began his lecture by raising everyone's desks off the ground and making them zoom around the class before setting them calmly back down again. Though it soon became obvious that they'd be doing nothing like that for some time, the class was still kept at least slightly interested in the curricula.  
  
Charms ended with an assignment to look up the properties of light charms, and Seamus groaned.  
  
"Bloody first day and we've already got homework."  
  
"It's not so bad," said Jen as they headed for History of Magic.  
  
"Speak for your blasted self," muttered Ryan darkly.  
  
"Tell me, wise one, why it's not so bad," gasped Seamus as they sprinted up another flight of stairs.  
  
"Cause I've got some of Patrick's old notes in my trunk, that's why," she replied, laughing. As she did so, the staircase flattened its steps, turning into a long, slippery slide. The three of the scrambled, trying to find a handhold as they slipped back to the bottom.  
  
"Bloody stairs," she muttered as they picked up their things and began trudging back up.  
  
"Well, well," said a raspy voice behind them. "Thought you'd cause a bit of trouble, eh? Set off a few dungbombs between classes, disturb the house- elves?"  
  
They turned to find Flich, the caretaker, standing behind them. He was a raggedy old man with a permanently sour expression and his only delight, they'd heard, was in punishing students. Some of the sixth- and seventh- years had muttered he'd gotten even meaner several years back, when his nasty, equally cruel cat had died.  
  
"We're just trying to get to History of Magic, sir," said Ryan politely.  
  
"Funny, that is, considering you're on the opposite side of the castle," said Filch, surveying them. His eyes sparkled with malice, and Seamus gulped.  
  
"Could you help us get there, sir?" asked Jen, a bit of her annoyance at this totally unfair situation seeping into her voice.  
  
"'Could you help us?'" imitated Filch. "Tricky, girl, but it's not going to work. I think I'll be kindly this time, though. Just five points from Gryffindor if I never catch you down here again."  
  
Seamus opened his mouth to argue, but Ryan elbowed him in the stomach and replied, "Thank you, sir. We'll be off to class then."  
  
Nodding, Filch turned to walk off down the corridor. Jen, seeing a neatly folded piece of parchment sticking out of his cloak pocket, lifted it neatly as he began walking away, a smug look on his face.  
  
"Are you insane!?!" asked Seamus as they raced off in the other direction. "He's just looking for a reason to give you detention, and you're giving him one!"  
  
"Like you're one to talk, Mr. I'll-argue-and-make-our-insane-sadistic- caretaker-see-reason," Jen retorted.  
  
"Besides," said Ryan as they finally came to class and whipped open the door, "it's a blasted piece of parchment. Why risk detention for that?"  
  
"If Flich bothered to confiscate it, do you really think it's just a piece of parchment?" asked Jen quietly as they sat down. Professor Binns, by far the oldest professor and the only one who was a ghost, didn't even look up at them as he marked their names off on the class list. One thing that could be said for being a first year is that for at least the first few days, everyone was late and none of the professors made much of an issue of it. "Besides, parchment is expensive."  
  
"You are insane," concluded Seamus, wide-eyed. "Bloody brilliant lift though," he added quietly.  
  
"Always stole stuff from my brother when he was asleep," she admitted as Binns continued droning on about Burdock Muldoon, chief of the Wizard's Council from something to something- Jen wasn't listening well enough to know. "It was best if I did it without waking him up... meant less running for me."  
  
----  
  
Family seemed to be the main topic at dinner that night, and Jen listened thoughtfully as she drank her strawberry soda. It was always interesting to hear people's responses to half-bloods and muggle-borns, and she had a personal stake in knowing how people reacted, being half-blood herself.  
  
"I'm pureblood, technically, and so's my twin brother, but our older brother's a Squib," said Ben Harcourt, another of the first years. "He's training to be an accountant- I'm glad I got into Hogwarts, meself."  
  
The listeners around the table laughed, and another student, this one a fourth-year named Sariel Ammet, said jovially, "Me parents are both muggles. 'Twas quite a surprise for them when I got in here, let me tell you, and I still don't think me mam believes it. There's plenty of people round here that'll try to give you trouble if you've got muggle blood, but they're just tryin' to make themselves seem better than you."  
  
"Slytherins in particular seem to have that problem," remarked a fifth-year Jen didn't know, to loud applause.  
  
"Well, since all they can call on for dignity is their bloodlines," Jen cut in, "I think they have a reason to be insecure and try to make themselves feel better."  
  
"Perhaps we could get them that tape advertised in the Daily Prophet- you know, the one on fighting insecurity complexes," said Seamus. When someone giggled, he put on an innocent face and continued, "What? I'm only thinking in their best interest."  
  
"Surely you are, my friend," said Ryan, patting him on the back. He wore a wide grin.  
  
Spirits were high as they headed back to the common room, and remained that way even as they worked through their homework. Jen did indeed have her brother's notes, and they were extremely helpful, since they contained most of the answers to at least the Transfiguration, Potions, and History of Magic homework.  
  
"Wish I sat next to your brother in History of Magic," said Seamus wistfully. "I dunno how he can stand to take the notes, but I know I can sure stand using them."  
  
"My brother's a prude," said Jen simply. "I think it would kill him not to take notes in that class. In more than one way- he'd beat up on himself and he can't pass the class without them."  
  
"Sounds like a wondrous family," said Ryan quietly as the sat in front of the fire.  
  
"Actually, it's not bad. I have Pattycake and two obnoxious little brothers, but we actually get along okay most of the time. My brothers don't turn up when I play Quidditch, and I avoid the playroom where Chris and Dan spend their lives away and stay out of Patrick and my room most of the time."  
  
"Sounds better than me," said Seamus. "I have two blasted little gits for siblings, and I have to take care of the lot of them most of the time, cause Mum and Dad are busy at work. Don't know why we can't hire a sitter, we have the money." "Trade you, Jen," said Ryan. "My sisters are in fifth and seventh year, and they're not around the house much, so I'm stuck with my littlest brother and sister when Mum and Dad aren't around."  
  
"I guess we can say we're all happy to be away from our families for a while, eh?" said Jen, watching the flames dance as Ryan and Seamus both nodded vigorously.  
  
"Who can say no to uninterrupted time to hang out and cause trouble with friends?" said Ryan, chuckling. 


	5. Brooms and Armor

Two weeks passed rather uneventfully, or at least as uneventfully as things seemed to go around here. That meant that Ben Harcourt has set fire to half the classroom yesterday in Charms, Seamus had tipped over a cauldron in Potions and three people in Shrinking Solution, and Jen had been forbidden to touch many of the plants in Herbology after accidentally killing off a few Sunroses when she forgot that she wasn't supposed to water them. The trio were finally getting used to the workload and the classes, and they could finally find their way from one class to the next without too much trouble.  
  
The parchment lay unnoticed in the bottom of Jen's bag as she, Seamus, and Ryan gathered in front of the fire after a particularly nasty night stuck working on Potions.  
  
"Wish I had my broomstick," said Seamus wistfully. "I'd go flying off around the grounds and have myself some fun."  
  
"I'm surprised your parents let you on a broomstick," said Ryan evilly. "You seem to have plenty of problems on the ground," he continued, then paused. "Particularly with walls."  
  
Jen chuckled, and Seamus glared death at Ryan. Seamus had managed to run into several walls and a suit of armor between classes that day, and she and Ryan had decided he couldn't be trusted to speak and walk at the same time.  
  
"I dunno," she said conspiratorially, "We might be able to get one sometime... just a matter of getting into the broom shed."  
  
"You'd steal one, just so you could ride it?" asked Ryan incredulously.  
  
"No," said Jen. "I would get my broomstick, the one my bloody brother always steals and takes with him to Hogwarts. Technically, it's my family's, so it's not stealing, and since I don't own it and didn't bring it, there's no problem with that blasted first-year rule."  
  
"And as long as we don't get caught, we don't have to worry about any of that," said Seamus triumphantly. He was clearly excited about the prospect of riding a broom again. Looking at Jen, he asked, "When d'ya reckon we should try it? Tomorrow?"  
  
"I was thinking we'd try tonight," she replied thoughtfully. "We're still about the castle for a couple more hours- it's only seven- and Patrick was complaining that the shed's just got a Muggle lock, so I can pick it."  
  
The boys stared at her, and Jen looked uncomfortable. "Mum's a muggle," she replied, by way of explanation. "She always locks stuff up with muggle locks, since she can't open the others and all, and I sorta wanted my trick wand back before she'd give it to me..."  
  
"Shouldn't we be going?" asked Ryan, looking at the clock. Seamus and Jen looked at him in surprise, and he replied, "Well, you two gits are going to do this no matter what I say, and I want a go on a broomstick."  
  
"Wait... you mean you've never ridden before?" asked Seamus as they hurried down the stairs. "Deprived child, that's what you are," he said, shaking his head at the sadness of it all.  
  
Jen mimicked the movement as she pushed open an outer door to a breath of cool air. They headed toward the Quidditch pitch, a huge area on the opposite side of Hogwarts from the dark, menacing Forbidden Forest. It had been made quite clear that students weren't allowed into the trees, and Jen consequently felt a strong pull to the area. Later, she thought. Once I've gotten to see my broom again.  
  
Creeping through the growing shadows, the trio heard voices inside the pitch, and redoubled their speed and silence. Apparently, a few of the older students were playing an unofficial game and having a wondrous time. Jen was filled with envy as she quickly picked the lock, but the feeling dissipated as her hands found her broom.  
  
Grabbing it, she locked the broom shed and gave a thumbs-up to Seamus and Ryan, who grinned widely. Jen mounted up comfortably and swiftly kicked her broom high into the air. The rushing air buffeted her face as she spun downwards at high speed to where Seamus and Ryan waited. She took a few more dives, swoops, and spins before reluctantly descending and handing the broom to Seamus, who took his turn quickly. He was a capable flier, and better than most Jen had seen, though Jen was pretty sure that she could beat him in a contest. Screaming downwards, he leveled out a few feet off the ground and stopped where Jen and Ryan sat.  
  
Teaching Ryan to fly was challenging at best. Though he had obvious athletic prowess, and, Jen though, looked like he'd make a great football player, he wasn't particularly confident and seemed determined to hold the broom wrong. They finally fixed his grip, but there wasn't time to do more as they sprinted back to put the broom away before the older students finished.  
  
Racing up to the common room, they shuffled in just in time to wish each other goodnight and head to their dorms. If any of the other girls in Jen's dorm noticed she was flushed and slightly breathless, the made no comment as she put on her pajamas and bade them goodnight.  
  
----  
  
They continued their nighttime flights, several of which became more eventful than intended when they were nearly caught by Filch. Hagrid actually caught them once, but he laughed and told them, "Take care the ol' git doesn't find ye doin' that. But don' worry 'bout me, I won't tell no one. Besides, that broom needs usin'- your brother never does- and yer good fliers. Well, cept you, mate," he said, no unkindly, as he looked down at Ryan. "But yer doin' better. Just promise me yeh'll try out for Gryffindor, will ya? They need new blood."  
  
They'd gladly agreed, and Hagrid had walked off quietly, acting like he'd never seen them in his life. Afterward, they'd seen the gamekeeper in something of a new light, and helped him whenever possible, as well as being far more cautious when they practiced.  
  
Their practiced caution didn't really extend to the halls, though they were quickly learning new tricks to cause havoc without being pinpointed. However, they were still perfecting their art, and thus managed to acquire a number of detentions along the way. Most, they agreed, were worthwhile- there was just something so very special about the way Filch looked when he'd figured out they'd covered the door to the Great Hall in stinksap- but it still meant they were no longer able to find times to fly, because of detention, Quidditch teams using the pitch, or homework.  
  
----  
  
"Bloody Filch," muttered Jen darkly after a particularly nasty bout of punishment, in which Filch had taken sadistic delight in making them clean off every suit of armor on the first three floors. He had not been pleased, either, when Jen had climbed into one of the suits and walked about for the amusement of her companions, and had nearly given her another detention.  
  
"If I see another suit of armor, I'm going to barf," said Seamus, and he looked like he meant it.  
  
"Close your eyes," suggested Ryan as they passed yet another gleaming suit.  
  
"Wish we'd get Flitwick again," said Seamus dreamily. Filch usually forgot half the tasks he'd meant to assign them as he worked to fix charms gone awry, and all he ever ended up making them do were basic cleaning chores around the classroom and gathering together materials for his next lesson, things far better than Filch's brutal cleaning regimens.  
  
"So long as it's not Snape," muttered Jen. Snape believed, as Filch did, in making his detentions as hellish as possible. "Remember that time we had to de-wing Doxies for him, and some were still alive and biting?"  
  
"It's hard to forget things that result in several hours in the Infirmary," replied Ryan dryly.  
  
"Or at least it is when you haven't been knocked out," amended Seamus as they came to the portrait of the Fat Lady.  
  
"You poor dears, you look awful," she said, pity on her round face.  
  
"Lacewing," murmured Jen, and the door swung open to reveal a nearly empty common room; everyone else was asleep, it seemed. She sat herself down with a thump as the other two grabbed their bags. Reaching over the arm of her chair, she rummaged through her bag to find a healing potion to use on her hands, which were raw and painful from Filch's caustic cleaning potions and her hard labor. When it proved elusive, she grabbed the bag and emptied its contents on the table before her. Rifling through the parchment, ink, books and personal effects, she found the piece of parchment she'd stolen from Filch their very first day. 


	6. Some Magical Artifact

**Chapter Six: Some Magical Artifact**

Jen's curiosity was piqued, and she examined the piece of parchment as she absentmindedly found the potion and tossed it to Seamus, who'd been requesting it most of the way up. Unfolding the parchment, she found it was actually rather large, but blank.

"Some magical artifact," muttered Ryan as he took his Potions book out of his bag. They were lucky that the next day was a weekend, because the detentions had also gotten them a bit tight on time for homework, and Jen didn't blame Ryan a bit for trying to get some done now.

"Hey," said Jen optimistically. "At least I have parchment to do that Transfiguration essay on."

Ryan rolled his eyes expressively but grinned despite himself. His eyes roamed to Seamus, who was working on cleaning the ink spots off his Charms homework. "Nice work," he commented dryly.

"I'm thinking of telling Flitwick it's abstract art, because I couldn't express myself fully in words," replied Seamus, looking unhappily at the page. "Think he'd buy it?"

"Bloody hell!" exclaimed Jen. The ink she'd just written her heading with was spreading out to form spidery writing, and Jen read,

_Messers Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs wish to tell the writer to keep their abnormally tiny writing off this parchment._

"Definitely more than it seems," she remarked thoughtfully.

"Yes," said Ryan dryly. "Not only is it a useless piece of parchment, it can also throw insults at you."

Jen ignored him as she scribbled, _What if I don't want to?_ As she finished the last word, the first was rapidly disappearing. She was rewarded, though, when instead of coming up with an instant retort, the parchment stayed blank for a moment, as if thinking, then asked,

_Do you solemnly swear you are up to no good?_

"If my mum is to be believed, I can always say that," Jen muttered, then continued more seriously, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

Ink spidered across the whole page, forming rooms and halls, tunnels and corridors. A heading at the top formed the words, "The Marauder's Map" in fancy script. Jen gasped as she looked down at the Gryffindor common room and saw a dot with a tiny label right where she sat. Looking closer, she saw that the label was indeed her own name, and that there were similar notations for Ryan and Seamus.

"Useless piece of parchment," she remarked softly to Ryan, who stared over her shoulder. Looking back at the map, she saw a dot labeled "Timothy Arget"- a particularly prudish prefect- coming up behind Ryan. "How do I turn you off?" she asked the map frantically. A space in the middle cleared and a simple question formed there.

_Mischief managed?_

"Yes, yes, mischief managed," she replied hastily, looking over her shoulder at the approaching prefect. When she looked back, she was relieved to find a blank piece of parchment.

"What's that?" the prefect queried suspiciously. The three of them were gaining something of a reputation, even though they'd only been caught a handful of times and had only a few detentions.

"Parchment," said Jen innocently. Looking slightly annoyed, she continued, "I was being a good little girl and working on my Transfiguration essay until _you_ came along. Have you always been this disruptive?"

Tim the Prefect opened his mouth to reply, but Seamus cut him off. "We try and try to get our homework done, but here you are, causing problems as always. You're single-handedly causing me to fail Charms, you know that?"

"Perhaps we should report this... shortcoming... to the proper authorities. I'm sure Professor McGonagall would want to know that one of her prefects has such horrid personality defects and is doing such things to poor, innocent first years such as us," said Ryan, the look on his face suggesting that he thought just staying here, and not reporting such a thing immediately, was against his better judgement.

Most Hogwarts prefects are used to being taunted, annoyed, physically and magically threatened, and/or hated because they catch students in the midst of wrongdoing more often than teachers. They can dole out punishment like teachers, but this doesn't gain them any of the prowess and respect of actually being a teacher. They are unused, however, to being blackmailed and threatened with the rules themselves, and this one was no exception.

Looking positively dumbfounded, Tim muttered a quick, "Sorry," and hurried away, leaving Jen, Seamus, and Ryan doubled over with laughter.


End file.
